Edwina Brisbane has established a consistent and dedicated commitment to design excellence through practice, education, and community. Having built up a diverse portfolio of project experience, from hands-on crafting and building to large-scale commercial projects, she now leads Cumulus’s Melbourne studio, where she is expanding her role into business development, and as a mentor and leader. As an architectural educator, she has led various design studios at the University of Melbourne and Monash University.

Brisbane’s contribution to the architectural and design community is varied. Her ongoing engagement with the Australian Institute of Architects through various roles with EmAGN and, more recently, as an awards juror –including as chair for the sustainability category – demonstrates her diverse skills of design assessment and critique, education, advocacy, and commentary. Further, she has worked to expand architectural and design discourse beyond the immediate professional community through her facilitation of events such as Process and the Better Living Forum, interviews with ABC radio national, and The Guardian.

Edwina enjoys thinking about things from multiple perspectives and carefully considers the way in which her work operates at different scales - the urban, the site, the object, and the detail. She applies this thinking to social, affordable housing, tourism, and public projects. This approach has led to various projects she has contributed to receiving design awards locally, nationally, and internationally.

Edwina was recognised as an emerging leader within Australian architecture, as a recipient of the 2023 Dulux study tour.